Home > Patriots can only blame themselves after mistake-filled loss to Seahawks

Patriots can only blame themselves after mistake-filled loss to Seahawks

Jeff Howe Sunday, October 14, 2012

Pick an error, any error. The Patriots had plenty to choose from during today's 24-23 loss to the Seahawks.

Tom Brady was flagged twice for intentional grounding, including one gaffe before the half from the 3-yard line, which wiped out a scoring opportunity. Brady held the ball too long before the pressure forced him to throw it away with one second remaining, but the flag exhausted the clock. The quarterback also threw a pair of interceptions in Seahawks territory -- Richard Sherman took one away at the 20, and Earl Thomas plucked one in the end zone.

"I thought we squandered quite a few opportunities today," Brady said. "Certainly, we all have to do a better job. It starts with me."

And there were so many defensive breakdowns, including Sidney Rice's 46-yard, game-winning touchdown catch with 1:18 remaining when he turned around safety Tavon Wilson with a double move. But the Seahawks had two passes that traveled even farther, plus a wide receiver pass that drew a 40-yard interference penalty.

"We didn't make enough plays, plain and simple," defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said. "Very frustrated. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say I'm not. I'm very frustrated. I don't know what else to say because I'd probably lose my head right now. I'm very frustrated, but we just didn't make enough plays when it counted, and it cost us."

The Patriots also had two chances to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Their first possession involved seven plays, 26 yards and two first downs over 3:25. The next traveled two yards on three plays over 24 seconds, which then yielded the Seahawks' game-winning possession.

Then, when it seemed like the Seahawks left Brady with too much time, the Patriots only got eight yards before turning it over on downs.

They had so many chances to beat the Seahawks, and for a while, it looked like they'd get away with their mistakes. But eventually, they all added up to a loss and a 3-3 record. Wilfork was asked if they were more talented than their record would indicate.

"Who knows?" Wilfork replied. "We're 3-3, plain and simple. There's not a magic wand. We're 3-3 for a reason. Until we do something about it, we're going to continue to have problems. We just didn't do enough today, and it cost us.

We had a lot of opportunities and didn't do nothing about it. It is what it is. Move on from here, I guess, but very frustrating to come this long ways and walk away with an L. It shouldn't have been this way."

Now, the Patriots' three losses have been by a total of four points (their three wins have been by 55 total points), and this is the second game they've lost after surrendering a two-possession, fourth-quarter lead. The offense had the chance to run out the clock in both of those defeats, and the defense then gave up the decisive score.

"We talk about playing a good 60 minutes of football, and we just seem to come up a little bit short in these close games like this, especially one where you have the lead like we did in the fourth quarter," wide receiver Wes Welker said. "You've got to be able to put it away, and we weren't able to do that.

"Right now, it's really frustrating, but we've just got to get back to work."